If what’s been reported over the past day holds true, there will be ICE detentions taking place in the following cities starting Sunday:
- Atlanta, Chicago, Baltimore, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York City and San Francisco
This would essentially be the delayed action that was called off two weekends ago after details of the plan were leaked and reported. At the time, President Trump said he would call off the detentions for two weeks at the request of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to allow for the opportunity to discuss meaningful reforms in border security and the immigration system. Predictably, here we are. Here are some updates of what’s happening here and what the objective of ICE is with these detentions.
There are over one million illegal immigrants that have been processed by our legal system for deportation but were never deported. According to my research, some of these cases date back to as far as 2005. ICE Director, Mark Morgan, announced a program that includes a voluntary component for these individuals. Anyone ordered for deportation who’s remained in the country will be provided 30 days to attend to their affairs prior to being deported if they come forward. Anyone who doesn’t come forward but is detained will immediately be processed for deportation.
It’s been shown that no known illegal immigrants have taken the voluntary option offered to date. If ICE follows through with this plan and it's clear they’re serious in carrying through with their plans, I could see many opting for the voluntary option which would dramatically aid ICE in achieving the goals outlined by the president and ICE director.
Here’s a statement from ICE provided to us about this operation: "Due to law-enforcement sensitivities and the safety and security of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel, the agency will not offer specific details related to enforcement operations. As always, ICE prioritizes the arrest and removal of unlawfully present aliens who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security. In fact, 90 percent of aliens arrested by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations component in FY 2018 had either a criminal conviction(s), pending criminal charge(s), were an ICE fugitive, or illegally reentered the country after previously being removed. However, all of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and – if found removable by final order – removal from the United States."
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